Pep Guardiola: Jurgen Klopp warns old rival life will be tough at Manchester City

Liverpool manager says Spaniard faces a harder test at the Etihad than he did at Bercelona or Bayern Munich

Jurgen Klopp warned Pep Guardiola he faces a tough task at Manchester City as the Liverpool manager relished the chance to renew their rivalry.

Guardiola was yesterday confirmed as the next Manchester City manager, with the Spaniard agreeing a year-deal to replace Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the season.

Klopp and Guardiola know each other well from their spells at Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively. The pair clashed eight times in league and cup in Germany, with Guardiola winning on four occasions and Klopp three times – although in both seasons it was Bayern who won the Bundesliga title.

“Manchester City is a club with not too bad possibilities on the financial side, shall we say, and Pep Guardiola is a really smart person,” Klopp said.

“He won’t have chosen City because of his friendship with a few people there. They won’t have the worst team in the world next year.

“But I love football because that doesn’t mean everything. As we have shown once or twice, you can beat these teams.

“We will see what happens, but I cannot be interested in this now like everyone else is. He will enjoy the league because it is a great league and a real competition.

“Pep is a real competitor. That is what he wants. I don’t think that it will be the same situation as he had in Spain, with Barcelona on the top level, or in Germany with Bayern on the top level, but of course Manchester City has good possibilities. We will try to beat them.”